Sweet Mastic "Avgolemono" Custard

A rich thick custard with lemon and a slight mastic flavor. This recipe calls for 8 egg yolks, and suggests that it will take 20 - 25 minutes to thicken. I must have been too timid with the heat, because mine took more than an hour to thicken. It didn't ever get really thick - it was a pourable texture - but very delicious. Lemony with a hint of the wild outdoors (from the mastic).

After cooking the custard, you are instructed to add 2T lemon juice. I also added the zest.

Mastic is called for - 1T (half my little jar) - tied up in cheese cloth. You add it for the beginning heating of the milk (to dissolve the sugar), and then after the custard is cooked, you are instructed to return the cheesecloth bag as it cools. After it was served, I removed the bag and opened it up -- half the mastic remained undissolved. I would recommend keeping the cheesecloth bag in the entire time it cooks so it all becomes used. This stuff is expensive!